Five gallon bucket vise

ABSTRACT

A mixing bucket holding means, subject of this petition for letters patent, consists of gripping jaws mounted on a platform/tray/frame holding a cylindrical bucket container in a manner to resist rotation of the container while a motor rotates a mixing paddle in the contents of the container. A human operator holds the mixing motor and space may be provided for the operator to stand on the frame.  
     The claimed invention is to the combination comprising the cylindrical bucket holding means and the frame for mounting the bucket holding means. The jaws are easily engaged to grip the container and easily disengaged to release the container after mixing the contents. One version comprises two elastomeric bands facing one another. Movement of a lever causes one band to advance toward the other band so as to encircle the cylindrical container at its base region. A spring loaded latch holds the gripping force after the activating lever has been applied. A trip release of the latch enables a spring loading to retract the jaws. Another design places the bucket container cornered between two fixed stops while a third toggle member presses against the container to create a gripping force directed inward against the cylindrical container.  
     Of other variations of the invention, each version has bucket clamping means, clamping means connected to a frame, and frame resting on the work area floor. Clamping means as taught by prior art include two jaw vise, three jaw chuck, collet chuck, pipe clamp, hose clamp, pipe vise, chain vise, strap wrench and more. The unique, inventive quality is the portable combination of any such clamping means with a frame which together can hold fast a mixing bucket of approximately five gallon size. The combination eliminates the hazard of a workman being injured by uncontrolled spinning of the bucket. If the bucket is held only by the legs of the human operator, relaxing of grip allows the bucket bail and handle to strike against the shin of the workman causing serious injury.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1). Field of the Invention

[0002] This invention relates to construction tools and work procedure of the building trade. The invention relates to mixing of fluids containing suspended solids such as used in cementing the joints of gypsum wall board and such as used in painting and wallpaper adhesive and the like.

[0003] 2). Background Information

[0004] Plaster board is used to cover interior walls. The edges of the board are beveled. The beveled joint depressed region of the installed plaster board is filled with a plaster cement material comprising powder solids suspended in an aqueous fluid.

[0005] The solids of the plaster cement tend to settle to the bottom of the 5 gallon container pail in which the plaster cement is shipped to the job site. Stirring is required Sometimes the starting material is a dry powder to which water is added with stirring.

[0006] The common stirring means is a heavy duty hand held electric drill. A stirrer rod is fastened into the drill chuck. The free end has a paddle which typically comprises four open rectangular loops that swing around the stirrer shaft. The workman grips the plaster cement container between his legs.

[0007] The container is typically a smooth polyethylene 5 gallon bucket with a bail and handle for lifting. By prior workplace practice without this invention the workman's legs grip the region of the container wire bail and handle. The fluid is viscous. Thus as the paddle blade turns considerable torque is transmitted to the cylindrical container, tending to rotate the container. The tendency of the container to rotate is resisted by the friction force imparted where the workman's legs grip the shiny outside wall of the polyethylene container.

[0008] Sometimes the resisting force is not adequate to prevent rotation of the bucket container. Then the wire bail whips around inflicting a nasty bruise or cut against the workman's shin. The present invention removes the human legs from the role of clamping the bucket container.

PRIOR ART

[0009] There appears to be no prior patent or prior industrial tool that specifically addresses the problem of restraining a mixing bucket while a hand held motor driven stirrer rotates while immersed in the bucket fluid contents. However, as prior art there are numerous patent and industrial examples of effective means for gripping a cylindrical object. The cylindrical object used in this invention is commonly designated by such terms as bucket, pail, cylindrical container, cylindrical vessel. A web site patent search has been made using such search terms as pipe clamp, hose clamp, chain wrench, strap wrench, pipe vise, collet chuck, U-bolt, shackle, clevis. The result is a great profusion of patents giving instruction on how to grip or immobilize a cylindrical object. Any of such means comes within the ambit of the functionality of this patent

[0010] The inventive creativity lies in using such clamping means to eliminate accident hazard when stirring the viscous contents of a common size bucket used in containment of certain cement type materials as are used in industry and the building trade.

OBJECT OF INVENTION

[0011] It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide a simple, easy to use device that can hold a cylindrical container bucket or pail and the like in an immobilized position, resisting rotation under the action of a rotating stirrer that is mixing the contents of the container.

[0012] Another object of the present invention is to provide a holding device as described above which is light weight and thus easily portable.

[0013] Another object of the present invention is to provide for a portable mixing container a holding device having means for gripping and means for quickly releasing grip on a mixing container.

[0014] Another object of the present invention is to provide for a portable mixing container a holding device that permits the user to stand on the holding device while stirring the contents of the container.

[0015] Another object of the present invention is to provide a portable container holding device such that the holding device has compact, minimal exterior dimensions when being transported or being stored

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a portable container holding device in service during mixing of the contents of the container, the device being easy to transport and use.

[0017] The portable mixing container holding device, for mixing plaster board plaster and the like, solves the problem of risk of injury to a workman who at times past held the stirred container between the legs of the workman to resist the tendency of the container to rotate with the rotation of the mixing paddle. The device includes a pair of resilient gripping straps or jaws or other easy release vise jaw means for securely holding the mixing container from rotating while the contents are being stirred. The holding device is a frame or tray or platform resting upon the floor of the operating area. The container, which typically is a 5 gallon polyethylene cylindrical bucket with a wire bail and a handle, sits on the tray. Gripping jaws located near the base of the container serve to grip the container to prevent it from rotating under the force exerted by the mixing paddle upon the contents of the container.

[0018] The holding device is light in weight. It is readily portable. In one design 75 embodiment of the invention a lever handle is inserted into a sleeve to enable the user to easily close the gripping jaws by movement of the lever. That same lever handle can easily be removed from the sleeve socket and the lever handle can be fixed to spring clips to the underside of the holding device for compact configuration during carrying of the device to the job site.

[0019] The holding device is especially desirable for mixing the plastic cement used in finishing the installation of gypsum wall board. The holding device is also useful in holding large containers of paint, stucco, and wall veneer coatings of various sorts, Mixed materials include plaster, paint, gypsum board compound, thinset, wallpaper adhesives.

[0020] The above and other novel features and advantages of the invention will be understood in more detail from the detailed description further below and the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021]FIG. 1 is a full face top view of a portable mixing container gripping device according to the invention, viewed by a user standing over and looking down upon the device.

[0022]FIG. 2 is a full face underside view of a portable mixing container gripping device according to the invention, viewed by a user standing over and looking down upon the device when the device has been completely inverted.

[0023]FIG. 3 is a longitudinal section view of the holding device invention with the section cut being close to centerline of the device.

[0024]FIG. 4 is an embodiment of the invention of few parts comprising a board, two confining posts, and a third confining means comprising an eccentric cam lever that exerts a variable movement against the confined stirred bucket.

[0025]FIG. 5 is similar to FIG. 4 but designed as a two jaw vise with one fixed jaw and one pivoted jaw which is pressed against the bucket by an eccentric cam lever.

[0026]FIG. 6 is similar to FIG. 4 in that it comprises two confining faces and a radial force application means but additionally has the triangular frame or tray design.

[0027]FIG. 7 is similar to FIG. 5 in that it comprises a platform and a fixed vise jaw but has no second jaw, the opposing clamping force coming from the cam. touching directly on the container.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0028] The face of the clamping vise jaw or the face of the clamping surface can be a high coefficient of friction material such as rubber so as to grip against slippage. However, since there is no cause for concern for scarring the polyethylene bucket an equally good or superior gripping material can be that of a rough, serrated surface. One such example is a jaw facing pad of expanded metal mesh being such mesh as is used in plastering work.

[0029] The detailed parts description begins with FIG. 1. Part one is the total frame of the mounting system. Part 2 is the anchorage post at the end of the rubber band designated part 3. Part 4 designates the total moveable assembly that brings the moveable elastomeric band toward the fixed band of elastomeric rubber part 3. Part 5 is one of the two longitudinal yoke bars that drag part 4 to a closed position when hand activated lever and yoke assembly part 6 is caused to rotate about its pivot attachment point to part 1.

[0030] Parts 7 and 8 are components of the latching mechanism but do not act to transport the gripping jaw. The jaw movement is achieved with part 5. There is a cross pin in the left end of part 7 which is hinged to part 8. Part 8 is fixed in position relative to the total frame part 1. In the middle of part 7 is a notch that engages the edge of a cross structure angle piece on the bottom of moveable jaw tray part 4. That latch action between notch and angle iron keeps the jaws gripping tightly against the mixing bucket work piece. Pressing down on button part 9 trips the latch to allow spring piece 10 to retract the moveable jaw.

[0031]FIG. 2 shows the underside of FIG. 1. Piece 11 is a channel piece. Part 11 designates one of two channel pieces (assembly is symmetrical about its centerline.), the channel pieces serving to hold the edges of part 4 as part 4 moves back and forth in its function as a moveable gripping jaw. The numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 as placed on the drawings within the frame of the object are in a clear space and not drawn upon a surface of the object invention.

[0032]FIG. 3 has the same numbered pieces. The circle within the region of part 4 is the pivot pin on the right end of part 5 which is one of the two longitudinal yoke bars that drag part 4 to a closed position. The bottom end of part 9 and the right end of part 7 slip together in their latching function. They are not pinned together or clamped together. Thus in operation the mixing bucket is placed in the center of the apparatus, lever mechanism piece 6 is pressed to the left, moveable jaw carrying mechanism piece 4 grips the bucket against the fixed position left side jaw. After the mixing stirring is finished pressing on button 9 trips the latch open to release the grip on the bucket.

[0033]FIG. 4 reduces the design to a small number of parts. Part 41 is a mounting platform which, for example, could simply be a three quarter inch thick plywood board, large enough that a five gallon bucket could be placed thereon. Part 41 and part 42 are posts affixed to part 41 and positioned approximately on the on the outline of the circumference of the five gallon bucket. Part 43 is the third element of the jaw array of a cylinder gripping means. Part 43 is pinned eccentrically relative to its contour region which bears against the five gallon bucket. Thus by moving the lever counterclockwise as represented in FIG. 4 the eccentric contour region presses against the bucket causing the bucket to press against parts 41 and 42. Assuming that the stirrer rotates in the bucket in a clockwise rotation direction the resulting effect is to cause the eccentric cam to tighten the gripping action of part 43.

[0034]FIG. 5 shows a two jaw chuck means. Rectangle 51 represents the fixed jaw barrier, part 52 is a jaw moveable about a pivot, part 53 is an eccentric cam pressing part 52 against the bucket being stirred, and part 54 is the total assembly support frame or platform or tray.

[0035]FIG. 6 has a holding mechanism similar to FIG. 4. Part 61 is a blocking point. Part 62 is a blocking point. Part 63 is a variable spacing force application point. Part 64 is the holding frame. The merit of the triangular construction is that a triangle has a structural rigidity. The triangle also provides an extended wing region where the workman can stand.

[0036] The ability to stand on the holding device while mixing is a desirable feature that can be understood by visualizing a situation where the tray rests on a smooth floor with some sand on the floor. The worker may have occasion to mix a small batch of especially viscous material. Then the torque couple from the electric drill driven stirrer paddle can be sufficient to cause the system to skid and spin on the sandy floor. However, if the workman stands upon the assembly the resisting torque interface never appears between the floor and the tray.

[0037]FIG. 7 approaches the bare minimum of parts, viz: one jaw and one opposing force application point. Part 71 is a fixed jaw. Part 72 is a adjustable position force application point. Part 73 is the support platform or tray or frame for the assembly. However, the ultimate in part count reduction and construction simplicity would be a single fixed jaw mounted on a platform. The clamping force application could come from the foot of the workman applied against the side of the bucket. Alternately a wedge of wood or a brick could be propped against the side of the bucket. In the sense that the foot could not be construed to be part of the patentable device it would be correct to state that claims include a device of just two parts, viz.: a holding jaw and a platform/frame/tray on which to mount the holding jaw.

[0038] One reason that FIG. 7 configuration will keep the smooth mixing bucket from rotating is that the bucket tends to wedge itself or jamb itself in between the two confining points. Serration on the face of part 71 enhance the gripping action to prevent slipping.

[0039]FIG. 7 comes close to capturing the essence of the invention in its minimum parts count embodiment. However, one can practice the invention with FIG. 7 instruction but using only parts 71 and 73, i.e. the platform and a stop. Going even further toward minimization, with FIG. 6 the frame part 64 will suffice to practice the invention. The gripping force can be supplied by the human operator placing one foot against the side of the mixing bucket to be restrained. Alternately, one could place a wedge of wood, a block of wood, a stick, a brick at one side of the frame piece 64 of FIG. 6 and thereby immobilize the mixing bucket. The extraneous member of a wedge, a block, a stick, a brick may or may not constitute a component of the invention as interpreted as covered by a descriptive claim. To address that detail the following clarifying comments are submitted.

[0040] The size of the mixing container is approximately five gallon size. That is a standardized size in commerce for marketing the subject cement material. Any container much larger would be too burdensome for the workman to lift and to carry. Any container much smaller would be inefficient use of container surface covering material as a ratio to volumetric content. Also it is a waste of labor time and waste of material clinging to the emptied, discarded container and a waste of storage space, etc. when a container is small in the extreme. Thus the market place will not drastically depart from that which is its present container practice.

[0041] Also the provision that for some versions of the invention the human operator may stand on the device to effect an immobilization of the container is a provision that narrows related claims.

[0042] Also the invention is limited to a situation facilitating mixing or stirring of container contents. Such distinguishing details limit the claimed and sought out patent monopoly so as to make issuance of letters patent allowable. At the same time we assert coverage by patent claim something so basic as a single piece frame that can immobilize a mixing bucket. Size and usage are such details that prevent the letters patent from being overly broad, and thus invalid. The single piece invention embodiment identification eliminates a ploy by competition to design around while still capitalizing on the essence of the inventors' improvement in a tool means for the construction and industrial trade. 

We claim:
 1. A portable device for clamping a cylindrical bucket of approximately five gallon capacity, said device comprising a platform/tray/frame and holding means on said platform/tray/frame wherein the improvement comprises that the bucket can be readily fastened to said portable device in a manner that contents of the bucket can be stirred in a rotational pattern while the containing bucket remains in a fixed position.
 2. The device of claim 1 wherein the improvement comprises that said holding means has a band and has a second moveable band such that the moveable band can be actuated to hold and to release from holding a mixing bucket positioned between said band and said moveable band.
 3. The holding means of claim 1 comprising two elastomeric bands facing one another such that movement of a lever causes one band to advance toward the other band so as to encircle the cylindrical container at its base region thereby gripping and comprising spring loaded latch which holds the gripping force after the activating lever has been applied and comprising a trip release of the latch, thereby enabling a spring loading to retract the gripping bands.
 4. The device of claim 1 with three holding jaws attached to the support frame wherein the improvement comprises that the bucket container is cornered between two jaws while a third jaw presses against the container to create a gripping force directed inward around the cylindrical contour of the container.
 5. The device of claim 1 wherein the improvement comprises that there is space on said platform/tray/frame for a human operator to stand while holding a mixing motor that is mixing the contents of said cylindrical bucket.
 6. The device of claim 1 wherein the improvement comprises that said holding means is selected from any of the following labeled holding means designs: a) pipe clamp b) hose clamp c) pipe vise d) chain vise e) strap wrench f) two jaw vise g) three jaw chuck h) collet chuck i) u-bolt.
 7. The device of claim 1 wherein the improvement comprises that said holding means is implemented by any of the following mechanisms: a) moveable band drawn into gripping contact by lever action b) eccentric cam rotated to effect gripping contact c) toggle mechanism d) wedge e) screw f) pivot held moving member g) track guide restrained moving member.
 8. The device of claim 1 wherein the improvement comprises that said platform/tray/frame is a) of any structural material b) of any shape that accommodates gripping and which joins the resisting torque couple back to the human holding the stirrer through a coupling interface at the feet supporting the human operator c) of any shape that accommodates holding and which joins the resisting torque couple back to the human holding the stirrer through a coupling interface that imposes a force vector against a body member of the human operator.
 9. The device of claim 1 wherein the improvement comprises that said portable device is less than 20 pounds in weight when displayed for being carried by a person and has one of its three geometric dimensions less than 12 inches when displayed for being carried by a person.
 10. A portable device for immobilizing a mixing bucket of approximately five gallon capacity said device comprising a platform/tray/frame and holding means on said platform/tray/frame of a fixed jaw and a moveable force application member wherein the improvement comprises that movement of said moveable force application member clamps a mixing bucket against said fixed jaw.
 11. The device of claim 10 wherein the improvement comprises that the moveable force application member is a cam eccentrically mounted on said frame.
 12. The device of claim 10 wherein the improvement comprises that the moveable force application member is a cam eccentrically mounted on said frame in such a fashion that the turning torque applied to the mixing bucket tends to tighten the gripping action of the eccentrically mounted cam.
 13. The device of claim 10 wherein the improvement comprises that said fixed jaw has a rough surface such as to more effectively grip against said mixing bucket.
 14. The device of claim 10 wherein the improvement comprises that there is space on said platform/tray/frame for a human operator to stand while holding a mixing motor that is mixing the contents of a cylindrical bucket.
 15. The device of claim 10 wherein the improvement comprises that the moveable force application member is a wedge placed on said frame.
 16. A portable device for immobilizing a mixing bucket of approximately five gallon capacity said device comprising a platform/tray/frame wherein the improvement comprises that a mixing bucket can be immobilized relative to the platform/tray/frame by application of an object onto said platform/tray/frame.
 17. The portable device of claim 16 wherein the improvement comprises that said object is the foot of a human operator of said portable device.
 18. The portable device of claim 16 wherein the improvement comprises that said object is any material object that is capable of forcing a mixing bucket against a reacting gripping force of said portable device. 